Is a mistake truly an opportunity in disguise?

Question

If one makes a mistake, or in the case of vocabulary, doesn't know the definition of a word and or uses a malopropism, is he/she more likely to remember the meaning of this word than that of a word he read in a dictionary?

I haven't encountered this situation, I was just seeing if others saw my theory as plausible. I am sorry to those who I mislead with my quote from Ben Franklin(for those of you who cleary didn't realize that)

Answer 1

Uh...yeah. Typically, people are more inclined to recall information accompanied by a specific memory, example, or application of some sort. Quite naturally when you apply knowledge you're more likely to recall it than when you randomly encounter it. Your mind has no need to store information you aimlessly come across, so it discards it eventually, while you dream, for instance. However, information attached to pertinent stimuli is more likely to be stored as shorter long-term depending on its relevance.

P.s. I don't think that was so much a personal "theory" as much as a congratulated observation, Professor.
Thanks for the 2 pts.

Answer 2

Yes: I believe that a mistake CAN be an opportunity if we learn from that mistake. I also agree with your malaprop example and think that a person will usually better learn this way, since he has now had a firsthand experience with the word and thus it will "register" in his mind more strongly rather than if he just read it in a dictionary where no real meaning was attached. We all learn best by doing rather than watching or reading, since it takes more effort to perform. Thus: more parts of the brain are used and a stronger impression is made. Memory in our brains can be compared to a path made by walking across a lawn: the more the path is "walked on" the stronger the imprint.

Answer 3

Sometimes in society we generalize a word ,for example in my country the word abuse refers to mental physical emotional etc mostly but look at a dictionary and you see that violation means the same but we hardly ever hear that word used.I think your actual question was a bit misleading for example if a driver made a mistake and hit someone and they died this would not be any opportunity.

Answer 4

Some mistakes hurt others, and no opportunity in disguise can trump that. But with small mistakes like the one you mentioned, I think your mindset is a good one to have. There's no use in getting bogged down.

Answer 5

I agree with you.

But do you know what this proves? That human beings are still selfish and self-centered. If we are most likely to learn something only in situations that cause us embarrassment or pain, this means that the meaning of our mistake gets attached to our mind only to save us from future failure and it's the self-defense technique of our mentality.

Answer 6

Yes. For most everything I'm good at now, I was embarassed about in the past because I wasn't

Answer 7

for me if you use a word and do not know the definition of it it shows your lack of knowledge.